Part 3

Julie had arrived at the hotel to pick up Max and his friends in the late morning and by three O'clock all, including the reluctant Julie, we having a great time. The museum had proven to be more enjoyable than anyone had expected, with natural history, art, ancient civilizations, and dinosaur exhibits that both fascinated and informed.

Much to everyone's surprise, Felix had turned out to be a great guide, leading them back and forth throughout the four story building explaining everything from Mozart to paleontology. The teen attributed his vast knowledge to the fact that his bedroom television had gotten stuck on the Discovery channel.

"And this," Felix began importantly, pointing to the penis on a statue, "is a bad case of shrinkage."

Max burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter, and was forced to hold onto Felix to keep himself standing.

Bea giggled, and blushed. Nude statues always made her nervous, especially the ones of men. Being that she had only ever encountered the male member in text books, having it in front of her in 3D was more than a little embarrassing.

Noticing her obvious lack of comfort, Julie patted Bea gently, "men, huh?" The blonde asked sympathetically.

Looking up into Julie's understanding face, Bea smiled a little, "yeah."

The blonde grinned as she put her arm around Bea's jacket clad shoulders, "their a pain. Let's ditch the guys for a bit and go grab a soda."

Bea looked up at Julie, and then to Felix and Max who were still laughing about the penis, and she smiled. "Yeah, lets."

"Me and Bea are gonna get a drink, we'll be back." Before the boys could follow or protest, Julie quickly led the younger girl out of the room and down a flight of stairs.

"Well, that's just not nice at all," Felix said impishly. Still grinning, he leapt on the shorter Max, and placed him in a head lock.

"Ow… Hey!" Max yelled as he struggled to get away. "We're gonna get kicked out!" Max thrashed around for a few more seconds before he was released from his head lock, and in disorientation, fell to the floor. "Yeesh, Fe, what's wrong with you?" Max adjusted his cap so that it was no longer covering his blue eyes, and slowly he stood up. Expecting to see Felix standing over him gloating, Max was more than a little shocked when his eyes fell on his friend, dangling from Norman's arm, six feet in the air.

"Norman!?" Max questioned in shock, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We are here to speak to you, Might one." Virgil stated prominently, as he stepped out from behind Norman.

"Max!" Felix all but bellowed, "would you get this… THING, to put me down?"

With a nod, Max sighed, "put him down, Normie."

The guardian scowled, but did what he was told. "Jerk," he muttered under his breath, heavily depositing the disheveled teen onto the marble flooring of the museum.

Satisfied, Max turned his attention to Virgil, "I thought this was my time off?"

"It was, Mighty One," declared the fowl firmly. "However, I am afraid that something has arisen most suddenly."

Glowering down at the Lemurian, Max snarled, "something's always 'arisen most suddenly'." Max's expression then softened to a pleading gaze, "can't we just let this one, you know,… Sort itself out?"

Dismissing the idea, Virgil transferred the Arcana he was carrying from one feathered hand to the other. "I think not, Mighty One, this is rather urgent." There were times when the fowl really did feel sorry for Max. He imagined that having the weight of the world on such young shoulders was more than wearisome. Combine that with all of the distractions in today's society; and the fact that Max never had a say in becoming the Cap Bearer and it was easy for Virgil to see why the youth resented his calling so much. However, this was neither the time nor place to discuss the injustices of fate. "Great evil is afoot…"

Max folded his arms across his chest and sighed angrily, interrupting the beginnings of Virgil's speech. "Well what if I don't go?"

Virgil was taken aback. He knew that Max had been growing infuriated with his lot in life as of late, but the youth had never outright defied him before. "You must go, Mighty One…"

With a glare at Virgil, Max swallowed hard, "Stop calling me that! Max! My name is Max!"

"Very well… Max. You must go."

"Must I really? Why?!" The blonde threw his arms up into the air and yelled in aggravation, "Don't you get it..? It doesn't matter what I do. No matter how many people I save, my life will always be crap!"

Felix looked at his friend with concern. "Dude..?"

"Just go," stated Max gruffly, "I'll see you back home."

With a nod, Felix sighed and quickly walked out of the room to get Bea and head back to the hotel.

Max slumped his young shoulders and hung his head, "and just what is this 'great evil', anyway? Killer slugs? Cranky aliens? Vampires?"

"Much worse, Mighty One, much worse."

~*~

Julie had really enjoyed hanging out with Bea. It had been almost like having a younger sister, something the adopted Julie had always desperately wanted. She had felt a pang of regret as she watched Bea drive away in the taxi that would take her and Felix back to the hotel. However her mind quickly left the regret and began to recall the events that had taken place a half hour before in the museum's cafeteria.

Felix had trudged in and told Bea that a Norman and a Virgil had come to take Max. When Julie had asked who they were, Felix had said that they were Max's long, lost uncles from Idaho. Bea had only sighed, and quietly sipped on the rest of her soda. After that Felix sat with them for a bit, and then four O'clock had rolled around and the teens had to return to their hotel so that they could head back to California with the rest of their class. It seemed that Max was going back with Virgil and Norman.

Julie had decided to stay at the museum for a while and see if maybe she was over her fear of old places. After all, during her whole time in the museum she had not felt uncomfortable once, save for the whole thing with Max, Felix and the penis.

Rolling her azure eyes, the blonde headed up the many steps and then through the large doors of the building. Deciding the best test of her phobia would be the ancient history section on the fourth floor, Julie quickly found an elevator had headed upwards.

She had been walking around for only a few moments before that old feeling of being watched and spoken to in a language that was beyond her comprehension, returned to her in full force. Swallowing hard, she shuddered. 'Maybe I should just scrap this whole idea and get pizza,' the blonde thought to herself and was about to turn around and head for the elevator when something caught her attention.

It was in a large display case, bathed in a soft light. A sword. Julie had never been particularly fascinated by swords or blades of any kind. However this one was different. The blade was four feet long and seemed to be made of a non brittle iridium with gold etched into the blade. The gold appeared to bleed upward all along the weapon to form an exquisitely crafted pommel and hilt which was sculpted into the shape of a winding dragon.

Forgetting her fears, Julie stepped closer to the case and leaned in to have a closer look. Upon further inspection she noticed that the edges of the blade had been set with a multitude of small diamonds that would make it lethally sharp.

To the left of the sword was a small plaque that stated the blade's origin. 'This blade, called The FireLight, was unearthed twenty years ago at an undisclosed location in Northern Iraq. Though there is no recorded history of such a weapon ever existing, scholars have dated it back as far as 4000 BC and have guessed it's origin to be Sumerian. The sword's weight is over 15 pounds, and it is valued at thirty-two point five Million dollars.'

There was something about The FireLight that seemed to grasp Julie's heart and soul as though it held a piece of her inside of it's shimmering contours. The blade made all of her fears melt and her senses focus on nothing save for it's raw power. It seemed as though she and the weapon were in a world all their own...

"Hey."

Giving a small shriek, Julie spun around at the sound of the voice, a look of shock and anger on her face. "What the hell do you wan… oh… …Hey Max." The blonde's voice softened a bit on the last part of her sentence.

Max grinned at her and strolled over to the display case. "Nice," he mused at the sword and then turned his attention back to Julie. "What are you still doing here?"

Wrapping her arms around her chest Julie snuggled deeper into her leather coat and sighed, "I, uh wanted to look around a bit more."

"Gotchya."

"What are you still doing here?"

A clouded look crossed Max's face as he slumped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Long story. I'm kinda here with some people, but I think I managed to ditch them."

"Ah," stated Julie knowingly, "Norman and Virgil."

Max was stunned. "How do you know about them?"

With a shrug, Julie yawned, "Felix said they ran into you in the museum and they were your uncles or something." Looking around at all of the relics on display, the blonde shivered. "This place is creepy," she declared with a small shiver.

Max was about to reply, when he heard a familiar sounding voice from behind him.

"Mighty one!" Virgil uttered in a breathless but desperate voice. The fowl had obviously been running and in a near frantic panic.

Hanging his head, Max mumbled, "Virgil."

Julie turned to say a quick hello to Max's uncle, however when her eyes fell on the Lemurian she found that her Mouth didn't really feel like working. All she could do was stare wide eyed at the short, feathered creature in front of her, in total shock.

"What were you thinking," Virgil scolded Max, looking severely up at him. "You can not just run off when the fate of the world…"

Cutting him off, Max pointed at the shocked and confused Julie. "Ixnay on the atefay of the orldway!"

"Oh, I, um… didn't notice…" The presence of another person in the room had obviously flustered Virgil more than a little bit. "Umm… Greetings, Madam."

"You're a talking chicken!" Julie loudly blurted out, still wide eyed.

"Fowl actually," Virgil stated importantly as he regained all of his lost composure.

Julie cocked her head to the side and then rolled her eyes, "O.K. then, your a talking fowl… uppity too. That would make sense I guess, considering you're one of MY hallucinations." She was attempting to deal with seeing Virgil the best way her brain knew how.

"I can assure you, I am NO hallucination." Affronted and more than a little vexed, Virgil sniffed indignantly and ruffled his feathers. "However, I suppose that type of reaction is to be expected."

Max looked up at Julie with pity in his eyes, remembering how shocked he'd been the first time he had seen Virgil. "I know it's hard to believe," Max began, "real hard. But you get used to it."

Blinking a few times, Julie swallowed, "used to it? Sure… no… uh… problem."

"Good." Seeing the matter as settled, Virgil looked to Max and continued. "You should not have run off…"

Whether Max had continued speaking to her, or the fowl, Julie couldn't really tell for she was past the point of listening to anything but her own thoughts. Taking a deep breath in, she remembered Virgil's words about not being a hallucination. However, she nor her brain were ready to confront the reality of a three foot, talking fowl who was carrying a book the size of bread box. It was impossible! There was no way that the thing in front of her could exist, but here it was. Arguing with a teenage boy about saving the planet, and shirking responsibilities.

There was no way around it, Julie had to sit down. Calmly, she walked across the large floor in the room, and plopped herself in one of the museum's many, hard chairs. "There", she said quietly, looking quizzically back to the scene she had just left. Shoving her hands in her jacket pockets, the blonde thought to herself, 'he looks a lot smaller from here. Maybe all chickens can talk? Yeah, that's it! They've just never bothered.'

Max gazed at Julie, sitting sprawled out in the chair, with a worried expression on his face. "Virgil," Max stated seriously, "you have to stop freaking people out like that."

"Mighty One, that is really not my concern," turning his gaze from the boy to Julie, the Lemurian sighed, "but I will try to cut down."

"Good." Max folded his bare arms over his chest and turned to look at the fowl. "Where's Norman?"

Virgil thought for a moment, "I sent him around the lower floors looking for you."

With a groan, Max shook his head, "so I guess we just follow the screaming people to find hi…"

"Mighty One!" Norman declared loudly as he entered the room.

"Normie," sighed Max as he stared to massage his temples.

It was at that moment, Julie looked to the door of the massive room and noticed the huge man striding in with a large sword strapped to his back. He must have been 7 or so, feet tall. Julie truly believed that she had gone crazy, and this was only adding to her belief. A part of her wondered if maybe she wasn't insane at all… But that part had been pushed aside during the shock of seeing a talking bird. "Max?" Julie bellowed, "is HE with you too?"

Jogging over to her, Max smiled weakly, "yeah, he is. Look, Julie… I'm really… I mean… that is…" Max was having trouble trying to tell her how sorry he was that she had to go through the stress of meeting his guardians.

Julie sighed, "This is all in my head right? I'm cracked? Daft? Deranged? Reeeaally tired?"

"Nope… sorry."

"Not even a little..?" The blonde asked hopefully.

"Uh… no."

Virgil and Norman moved to join the Mighty One as Julie seemed to make a career out of studying her shoes. However when she noticed the large shadow looming over her, the blonde lifted her head and sighed in Norman's direction. "I suppose your NOT a hallucination either?"

Norman shook his head stoically, as he looked down at the woman in front of him. Her blonde hair, azure eyes, though confused, piercing and deadly. Full, pouting lips; hard, golden, immaculate, skin… Norman sucked in his breath as his dark eyes went wide. Her. It was her! The warrior from his dreams, the one who plagued his immortal soul. She was here! Real! Alive! Norman couldn't speak, only stare at the woman who had been haunting every moment of his life for the past six months.

"Norman," Max stage whispered, leaning close to the warrior, "stop staring!"

Norman tried, and after a few minuets, he had managed to calm himself enough to look at the ceiling as he attempted to center his thoughts. During that time, Max and Virgil had given Julie the condensed version of exactly who they were.

"So…" the blonde said slowly mauling over her words. "You," she pointed to Max "are the 'Mighty One', who's destined to save the world with his magic hat?"

Virgil was about to interrupt her, but Julie kept speaking.

"And you," she gestured to Virgil, "are a talking bird, with an enchanted book that tells you how open doors to anywhere? And these doors, are a funky type of… …subway system, designed, like, a bazillion years ago by a bunch of weird, smart guys?" Julie then gestured to the distracted Norman, "and buddy over there, is an uber, old, warrior who's supposed to protect Max, with his big, bad ass, sword?"

"Well," began Virgil, slowly, "actually…somewhat… well… yes."

The blonde folded her arms across her chest, and sighed. "That's the biggest load of shi..." Julie's voice trailed off abruptly as all of the lights in the room slowly began to flicker, bathing everything in darkness then light. Suddenly, the temperature in the room seemed to drop to freezing, allowing everyone to see heir breath, and causing all but Virgil to shiver and huddle a little into their clothing.

"What in the name of Odin..?" Questioned Norman as he drew his sword and protectively stepped closer to Max.

As if on cue, all of the lights in the display cases dimmed to nothing, leaving only the flickering track lights on the ceiling to light the large room.

"Virg..?" Max asked, hopping that the fowl could shed some light on the current situation. However the Lemurian never got the chance to reply, for at that moment all of the light bulbs and display case glass in the room spontaneously shattered.

"Get down!" Norman yelled, throwing himself, protectively over the Mighty one.

Julie and Virgil dropped to the ground as shards of glass showered down over them and the room slipped into an eerie darkness.

A bitter chill continued to tighten it's grip on everything as the crimson breaker lights switched on, allowing a red glow to envelop the display room, sending shadows and shapes every which way.

Slowly, Norman rose to his feet, followed by Julie and Virgil. All three quickly checked themselves for damages, and aside from a few cuts, found nothing. Virgil then looked to Max who had only now began to stand, "are you alright, Mighty One?"

Max wiggled his fingers then his toes and gave himself a quick inspection. "Yeah, Normie makes a pretty good shield."

"Just what the hell is going on?" Julie questioned as she brushed a few stray pieces of glass from her coat.

Virgil hung his head, but did not speak.

"Fine," she stated coldly, as her gaze traveled from the fowl to Norman, "then YOU tell me."

The guardian looked at Virgil's downcast stance and then into Julie's wintry eyes. He found that he was unable to say anything, for his brain was refusing to work again. Every time he looked at her, Norman's mind flew back to his dream. The guardian gave a violent shake of his head, 'no!' He scolded himself, 'I will deal with the present situation first!'

"It's... the evil," Norman stated darkly, looking from Max to Julie.

Virgil lifted his feathered head, and looked to Max. "This is why we have come here, Mighty One," he said sadly, "although I fear it may already be too late."

A cold, male voice spoke from the shadows, answering Virgil's statement, in a tone that cut through steel. "You are correct, Lemurian… it's is too late… for all of you."